Mutual of Enumclaw Ins. Co. v. Wiscomb

In Mutual of Enumclaw Ins. Co. v. Wiscomb, 97 Wn.2d 203, 643 P.2d 441 (1982) the court considered two consolidated cases, each involving a wife's claim against her husband's automobile insurance company following an accident in which the wife was injured. The insurance policies in question had clauses excluding coverage for injuries to family or household members. Id. at 205. The court held that the exclusion clauses violated the public policy that victims of negligent driving should be compensated, as manifested in the FRA. The court stated, "Quite simply, the statute creates a strong public policy in favor of assuring monetary protection and compensation to those persons who suffer injuries through the negligent use of public highways by others." Id. at 206. The court found that the family members exclusion clauses struck "at the heart" of that public policy, id. at 208, because the exclusions focused upon who was injured and not upon the risk to the insurance company presented by the decision to insure a particular person against particular kinds of conduct. Id. at 209.